In Baltimore County 2,000 customers lose phone service...

CITY/COUNTY DIGEST

PIKESVILLE -- About 2,000 customers of Verizon Maryland Inc. have been without telephone service in Pikesville since Monday morning when a contractor severed a cable while working on a traffic signal.

About half the customers were to have phone service back last night. The rest should have it restored by today, Verizon spokeswoman Sandra Arnette said.

The area without service extends a few blocks on either side of Reisterstown Road between Interstate 695 and Slade Avenue. Businesses were primarily affected, Arnette said, but Maryland State Police headquarters maintained phone service.

Towson University student raped on campus

TOWSON -- A 20-year-old Towson University student was raped early Sunday morning while walking on campus, Baltimore County police said yesterday.

The female student was walking along a pathway between Scarborough Hall and Perryman Hall shortly after midnight when a man sexually assaulted her and then fled in a car, police said.

Cpl. Scott Rouch of the Towson University Police Department said this attack was the third rape on campus since the semester began in January. One woman was raped last semester. No rapes were reported on campus in 1997, 1998 and 1999, he said.

Man hunting pheasants accidentally shoots guide

ARMACOST -- A man hunting pheasants accidentally shot his guide yesterday at the Gunpowder Preserve, said John Surrick, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Joseph P. Cala, 35, of the 1000 block of W. Seminary Ave., was hunting near the 17900 block of Gunpowder Road when he fired two rounds at a pheasant, Surrick said. One round from the shotgun struck the pheasant, but a second round grazed the hunting guide's chest and arm, Surrick said.

The guide, Jack W. Kincaid, 42, of the 17900 block of Falls Road in Hampstead, was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center and treated for nonlife-threatening injuries, Surrick said.

School system to hold job fair for teachers today

TIMONIUM -- The Baltimore County school system will hold a job fair for teachers from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the Maryland State Fairgrounds.

The school system is looking to hire 900 teachers before the 2001-2002 school year. About 160 schools will be represented at the job fair, which is an annual event. Applicants are asked to bring a resume and be prepared for interviews with administrators. Information: 800-832-2422.

Concert raises $208,000 for children's programs

TOWSON -- Sheppard Pratt Health System's annual Care for Kids concert March 17 raised a record $208,000 for patient care and programs for children and adolescents at its locations across Maryland.

Sheppard Pratt, a private, nonprofit behavioral health system based in Towson, provided 41,500 days of in-patient and residential care to children and adolescents through its hospital and residential programs last year. It also serves youth in special education schools, day hospitals and outpatient programs.

In Baltimore City

Job fair for teachers set tomorrow at stadium

The Baltimore school system is holding a job recruitment fair for prospective teachers from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow at PSINet Stadium, 1101 Russell St.

School officials project they will have to fill between 850 and 900 teaching vacancies before the next school year starts in September. Information or a job application: 410-396-7383.

Special Olympics sponsors bowling tournaments

Special Olympics Baltimore City is sponsoring bowling tournaments for its student clients at Seidel Lanes, 4443 Belair Road.

The tournaments will begin at 9:45 a.m. High-schoolers will bowl Friday, elementary school pupils April 6 and middle-schoolers April 20.